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John Schneider didn’t exactly follow the traditional path to Hollywood stardom.
At just 18 years old, the New York native convinced producers of “The Dukes of Hazzard” that he was a 24-year-old Georgia farm boy with racing experience — and somehow, the gamble paid off.
“I told them, I said, ‘Look, I’m 24 years old from Snailville, Georgia. I grew up on a farm, and I just came in first in my class at the Georgia School of High Performance Driving.’ Which did not exist… You couldn’t ask your phone if this place existed.”
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John Schneider, as Bo Duke, in the made-for-television movie, “The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!” in 1997. ((Photo by CBS via Getty Images))
The wild confession came as Schneider looked back on his unlikely rise to television fame during an appearance on “Arroyo Grande with Raymond Arroyo.”
“I learned a long time ago, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression,” Schneider said. “I gave them exactly what I thought they wanted.”
“Yeah, they were looking for good old boys from the rural South, 24 to 30, with no acting experience, but a lot of racing experience.”
Schneider checked almost none of those boxes.
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American actors John Schneider, Catherine Bach and Tom Wopat in a promotional portrait for the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard”, circa 1980. ((Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images))
“And of course, I was 18, from Westchester County, New York… I’ve done theater for 10 years.”
“Years later, I found out that one of the producers was — his opinion was, ‘Over my dead body is this hick going to have anything to do with my television show.’”
Another producer, however, saw something the first one didn’t.
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“But the other one, thankfully, who had a little bit more juice, said, ‘That’s him. That’s Bo Duke.’”
“He and I finally won that argument… that was 1978.”
American actors Tom Wopat and John Schneider in a promotional portrait for the TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard”, circa 1980. (Getty Images)
Schneider’s story was so audacious that Arroyo had to ask the obvious question: Was it “nerve” or “desperation”?
“What’s the difference?” Schneider laughed.
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For Schneider, it was neither.
“When the smoke clears, no… it was where preparation meets opportunity.”
And the actor had already been studying Hollywood’s biggest opportunities.
Actors Burt Reynolds and Sally Field in the film “Smokey and the Bandit.” (Getty Images)
“You know, I recognized ‘Smokey and the Bandit’ had just beaten all the box office records in ’77 until ‘Star Wars’ came along.”
But Schneider’s connection to the Burt Reynolds classic was even more improbable.
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He was living in Atlanta at the time and wanted to get onto the set.
“I was, but I wasn’t supposed to be… I acted, some people would say — or lied, some other people would say — my way onto that set as well.”
Schneider laughed off the admission, explaining that he has always operated with an expectation that something big could happen.
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John Schneider, left, Tom Wopat and Ben Jones on the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” circa 1983. (Getty Images)
“So, I guess… it was not desperation. It was just, I’ve always, for some reason, expected great opportunity every day.”
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“The Dukes of Hazzard” premiered in 1979 and followed “the fast-drivin’, rubber-burnin’ Duke boys of Hazzard County.” The series ran for seven seasons and 147 episodes, becoming a massive Friday-night ratings draw and at one point attracting as many as 40 million viewers.
Schneider went on to become synonymous with Bo Duke, later appearing in projects including “Smallville.”